Spiral separator



April 27 1926. 1,5 2,503

A. BENNER S PIRAL SEPARATOR Filed June 18, 1925 Svwemtoz 'PatentedAp'r. 27,.

ADAM BENNEB, F HAZLETQN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 ANTHRACITE SEPA- SYLVANIA.

SPIRAL SEPARATOR.

Application filed. June 18, 1925. Serial No. 37,923.

T 0 all whom it may concern. v

. Be it known that I, ADAM BENNER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hazleton, county of Luzerne, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spu'al Separa-' tors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to spiral separators 19 and particularly to improvements in the construction of the runways thereof. The invention aims to provide certain details in improvements of construction whereby the width: orsupporting area of the runway and the amount of frictional surfaceexposed to.

justable cover plate in a different position to that shown in Fig. 2.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the separator includes the central supporting post 10 which carries a plurality of outwardly extending rods 12 which support the runway indicated generally by numeral 14. Other rods 16 carried by the central post support an outer conveyor thread 18 which is adapted to catch the coal which skids off the separator runway 14. The present invention is directed chiefly to the construction of the separator runway 14 and to the .means whereby the exposed frictional area thereof is varied simultaneously with a vari ation in the location at which the pure coal will fall off the separator runway.

The runway is formed'with a series of fixed segmental plates 20, the lower edges 22 of which overlap the upper portions 24 of the plate nextbelow. At determined intervals along the length of the runway certain of the segmental plates 26 as shown in Fig. 2 are cut away as indicated at 28' on an oblique line which forms an acute angle with a radial line passing through the central axis of the runway.

The segmental plate next above the cut away plate 26 is oifset as indicated at 30 to permit a friction plate 32 to slide between the upper surface of the plate 26 and the under surface of the plate 20. The friction plate 32 is riveted, bolted or otherwise secured as indicated at 34 to a spirally movable bar 36 which is guided in suitable brackets 38 secured either to the underside of the runway segments or to the supporting rods 1-2. y

In operation of spiral separators the mixed materials, for example, pure coal, im-

pure coal and slate, are fed to the upper .end of the runway and as they travel therealong by gravity in the spiral path the coal and slate having differing frictional characteristics tend to separate and travel in different courses along the runway, the slate travelingan inner path and the pure coal traveling an outer path, some of it falling off the outer peripheral edge and into the conveyor thread 18. The materials act differently on different days due to changes in humidity and weather conditions and itis necessary to adjust the separator friction to meet these varying conditions. My adjustable friction plate 32 provides means for simultaneously varying the frictional area of the runway and also the location as measured from the center or axis of theseparator at which the coal will be discharged. From the drawings, it is clear that when the plate 32 is drawn well back under the fixed segmental runway plate 20 as shown in Fig. 3, a minimum amount of friction surface will be exposed. At this time any coal traveling in the outer zone of the runway beyond the point indicated at 38 will fall off into the coal conveyor thread 18. By manipulating the spiral bar 36 the plate 32 can be closed to the position, for example, illustrated in Fig. 3 so that the cut away portion of the plate 26 is almost entirely covered. Thus the coal cannot leave the runway until it acquires sufficient centrifugal force to fly over the outer edge thereof.

By cutting the plate 26 away at an acute angle as indicated by the line 28 in Figs. 2 and 3 and by providing an adjustable friction plate 32 which travels in an arcuate path substantially concentric with the axis of the separator, the point of discharge of material from the separator runway and the exposed frictional area of the plate 32 can be very nicely adjusted to suit practical requirements. 7 I

The herein described arrangement is adapted for use on separators handhng RATOR COMPANY, OF HAZLETQN, PENNSYLVANIA, ACORPOBATIGN OF PENN- either bituminous or anthracite coal. This is an advantageous feature over similar adjustable friction devices heretofore proposed which have usually necessitated special provision for each of these two classes of coal.

Though I have described with great particularity the specific embodiment of the invention herein illustrated, it is not to be construed that I am limited thereto as changes in arrangement and substitution of equivalents may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

hat I claim is:

1. A separator having a spiral runway over which the materials to be separated travel, said runway having an outer portion cut away on a line at an acute angle to a line passing through the central axis of the runway, and a plate movable over said cut away portion on an are substantially concentric with said central axis.

2. A separator having a spiral runway over which the materials to be separated travel, said runway being formed of segmental plates certain of which have an outer cut away portion and a friction plate movable under one plate of the runway and over said cut-away portion of an adjacentplate and arranged to simultaneously Vary the exposed frictional area of said friction plate and the radial location at which material will fall from the runway.

3. A separator having a spiral runway over which the materials to be separated 3 travel, said runway being, formed of segmental plates certain of which have an outer cut away portion and a friction plate movable on an are substantially or approximately concentric with the axis of the sepa- 4 rator under one plate of the runway and arranged to cover varying areas of the cut away plate so to simultaneously vary the exposed effective area of said friction plate and the radial location at which material 4 will fall from the runway.

4. A spiral separator including in combination a runway formed of a series of fixed segmental plates certain of which are cut away to permit the material to fall from the runway at points inward from the periphery of the runway, a friction plate movable under one of said fixed plates adjacent said cut away portion, and a spirally movable operating rod arranged to move said friction 5 plate in a circular path substantially concentric with the axis of the separator.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

ADAM BENNER. 

